


The Black Cat Nero (Stay)

by Hyevon



Category: ATEEZ (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Magic, And that makes San very sad, Fluff, Jongho is lonely, M/M, Mingi is suspicious, Minor Jeong Yunho/Kim Hongjoong, Minor Jung Wooyoung/Park Seonghwa, Minor Kang Yeosang/Song Mingi, Oneshot, San is whipped, They’re both soft boys, Woohwa, YunJoong, jongsan, minsang, shopkeeper!jongho, the black cat nero, tiniest bit of angst, wizard!san
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-12
Updated: 2021-02-27
Packaged: 2021-03-10 04:15:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 10,286
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27528277
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hyevon/pseuds/Hyevon
Summary: Choi San, the well-renowned wizard, has taken a liking to Jongho, a non magical owner of a small herb-shop.A long one-shot with (maybe) little drabbles afterward
Relationships: Choi Jongho/Choi San
Comments: 16
Kudos: 102





	1. Piqued Interest

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [These Evidences of Respect](https://archiveofourown.org/works/26594485) by [latecamellia (caramarie)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/caramarie/pseuds/latecamellia). 



The sun had long since fallen beneath the horizon when Jongho finished unboxing the new shipment of herbs. Assortments of glass jars and sealed containers took up the entirety of the shop counter, and the empty shipment boxes were lazily discarded on the floor. 

The boy sighed after sweeping his gaze over the mess. He really, severely did not want to deal with organizing and shelving all of it, especially when it was so late. 

He wrestled with himself, knowing if he just went to bed that he’d have to deal with the mess in the morning. 

“I’ll just take the boxes out and worry about the rest before opening tomorrow.” Jongho verbalized his compromise, and effortlessly swept the wooden crates up off the floor into his arms.

He struggled to open up the door on his own, having to use only a pinky to clutch the knob, then bend the rest of his body to actually turn it. At times like this, Jongho had seriously wished he had the gift of magic at his disposal, like the marvelous wizards that often strolled through his shop’s front door in want of his herbs.

Unfortunately, simple Choi Jongho was just that: simple. With no magic to his name, he decided to immerse himself in the world of magic as much as he could. After extensive research and experimenting, Jongho landed on becoming an apothecary of sorts. He studied and sold magical herbs and spices to any wizard or witch that wandered into his quaint little shop, which also doubled as his home beyond the front room. 

Although it couldn’t compare to the dream Jongho had fleetingly longed for, it fulfilled as much of it as he could ask for.

He waved the thought away as he used his foot to swing the door open. Jongho was one to embrace reality more firmly anway. 

It wasn’t until after the boy had set the crates down on the ground at the corner of his shop that he noticed how cold it was outside. In the middle of summer, such a temperature was incredibly odd. His brow furrowed as he scanned his surroundings. 

A sudden chilly night breeze brushed across his skin, and pulled his attention toward the direction in which it blew. Down the dark alley that was wedged between his shop and the next one over. 

His eyes darted around the narrow space which inhibited a thick darkness. There was nothing.

Strange.

Another small gust whispered through his hair, and rippled under his clothing. Goosebumps raised all over his body with such intensity that it almost hurt.

Then, a low sound Jongho barely caught floated from the darkness. A yowl.

His foot bravely stepped forward. The other followed soon after. He was only one step away from walking into complete darkness, and he frankly felt a little too cautious to venture much farther.

The sound crept into the air again, and Jongho’s eye caught something it hadn’t before. 

There, curled in the swirling shadows, was a cat with a coat colored a pitch black much darker than the alley.

It prowled toward Jongho, and the boy could see it more clearly with every silent step it took. 

It didn’t have to step into the light before Jongho picked out a few strange spikes that stuck out of the feline’s left side. They resembled long thorns, and looked particularly painful. They were no doubt the origin of the cat’s miserable crying. 

It stopped its advance once its back paws had left the darkness, and Jongho could see it perfectly.

Its fur was a sleek obsidian black, and perched atop its head sat the most intelligent pair of eyes Jongho had ever seen on a cat. The thorns were most definitely not coming from the cat in any natural way. It seemed that he’d been in a scuffle with some other animal, or perhaps a rosebush. 

“Hm… no collar. Must be a stray.”

Jongho cautiously crouched, eliciting a growl of warning from the feline. 

“Hey,” Jongho gently called, and held his hand out in an offering. “I’m not going to hurt you.”

As if understanding what he’d said, the cat lowered his head, and slowly approached the outstretched hand. His little pink nose investigated Jongho’s scent, before gently butting his head against the boy’s fingers.

“Will you let me pick you up?” Jongho asked after stroking the fur behind the cat’s ear.

The sleek animal looked up at his face like it was pondering his words. 

The boy reached out slowly, and the feline stiffened. 

“Shh, it’s okay,” Jongho cooed. His hand carefully reached under the cat’s ribs, and the other came up to hold his haunches once lifted against Jongho’s chest. He took extra caution with the thorns, making sure they were not pressed against or agitated.

Jongho stepped back into the shop, leaving behind the chill of the strangely chilly night.

He passed the front of the shop, and went straight to the back where his home was. Gently, he placed the cat on the dining table, and went straight away to gathering supplies. “Stay here. I’ll be right back.”

As promised, Jongho returned to the table with his arms full of jars and a few tools. He was pleased to find that the animal had obediently stayed in his spot, as he placed everything down.

“Okay, this might sting, but you’ll feel better once I’m done.” 

Jongho delicately readied a pair of tweezers in his hand, and lowered them to one of the three thorns stuck within the cat’s side. 

“One,” Jongho watched the cat growl lowly once he swiftly plucked the first thorn. 

“Two.”

The cat cried and hissed at Jongho at the second removal, which made Jongho roll his eyes.

“Drama queen,” He muttered under his breath, and plucked the final thorn with ease. “That’s the last one.”

Another unhappy noise was released from the animal, but this time it sounded more like an underhanded complaint. 

Jongho sighed and reached for one of the jars of herbs. He’d intended to rub a few mixtures onto the puncture wounds to help heal them, but as soon as he made the move for ingredients, the cat had leapt from his spot on the table onto the kitchen counter.

The boy watched the feline prance across the counters, and hop onto the sill of his kitchen window that lay ajar. 

The cat looked back to the stunned shopkeeper with a peculiar look in its eyes. The eye contact with such an intense gaze made Jongho shiver.

Or maybe it was just the open window. 

Either way, the cat only looked back for a moment before jumping out of the window, disappearing into the darkness of the night. 

Jongho’s eyes were fixed on the window for a few seconds longer. Then he turned back to the jars, and sighed. 

*

The second time Jongo had seen the cat was once again at night. Jongho nearly had a heart attack when seeing the silent mass of darkness sitting at his kitchen window. 

The summer nights were warm again, contrary to that one night of icey air. Jongho had needed to pile an extra blanket on himself just to stay warm as he tried to fall asleep. The morning after bore no trace of a chilly night prior, so he opted to leave the window open as he always did. 

Jongho jumped at the sight of the shadow, and relaxed after realizing what it was. 

“Hello again,” He muttered to the cat, who sat contently and observed the boy.

The two stared at each other for a moment, simply acknowledging the presence of one-another. 

Then, Jongho blurted out, “Are you hungry?” and got to work throwing together a quick dish for the cat without thinking twice about it. The cat just watched, unmoving from his spot.

Within two minutes, there was a tiny plate of cat-safe food placed on the counter. The cat approached and sniffed at the plate before indulging in a taste. 

“Can I pet you?”

Jongho asked in nearly a whisper. 

The cat looked up at the boy briefly, then returned his attention to the food. 

Jongho didn’t exactly know if that was a ‘yes’ or not, but he decided to take the risk.

The tip of his pointer finger stroked the fur of his head in feathery touches. The cat seemed content, so Jongho bravely ran the palm of his hand down the shiny back of the animal. Again, the cat was unbothered by the gesture, so Jongho relaxed as he continued to pet the cat.

He really must have been a stray. Jongho helping him out probably was the reason he’d come back. And now with offering the cat food, Jongho could guess that he’d be seeing the cat more often.

*

He was right.

The stray showed up a week later. 

Now, the cat had come to see him in the middle of the day, as he was studying while sitting at the counter of the shop. He was startled by the ‘meow’ at the doorway that led to the kitchen.

“Good morning,” Jongho returned to his book, not minding that the animal had leapt onto the surface on the counter and sat right by him. 

Jongho stole a glance, only to see the cat staring at him intently. His lips came to a thoughtful pout, and for a moment he swore that the cat’s eyes were drawn to the change. 

“Need something?” He raised an eyebrow. 

The cat released a ‘meow’, which Jongho guessed was conformation.

“Food?” He offered.

The cat was silent as he lowered his head, and touched his nose to Jongho’s hand that rested on the book he was reading.

“Oh,” Jongho let out the smallest chuckle, and brought his hand up to pet the feline.

He went back to reading, absentmindedly petting the new friend he had made. The cat happily laid on the counter to receive Jongho’s gentle touches, tail twitching every so often. 

When Jongho finished the book, he closed it and stood up to put it back on the shelf. The cat raised its head, having immediately noticed the lack of warmth, and mewled. 

“I’m coming back, calm down,” Jongho lightly scolded, and sat back on his stool. He laid his head in the crook of his elbow, looking at the dark creature as he scratched behind its ear.

“I’m glad you came today,” He mentioned. The feline’s ears perked up.

“I was getting lonely.”

The cat’s eyes opened, and stared at Jongho. The glance was eerily akin to a decision being made.

*

A few days later, Jongho had realized that the decision made by the cat was to visit more often. He knew this cat was smarter than normal cats by far, and had come to quite enjoy the company of such an intelligent and handsome creature.

When the bell of the shop’s entrance rang cheerfully, Jongho was busy laughing at the cat’s reaction to the startling noise. With an annoyed growl, the feline leapt onto the counter and sat on the far end, back facing Jongho. 

“Aw, are you pouting?” Jongho couldn’t help but be amused by the pissy behavior. 

The customer walked up to the counter, and now had the shop-keeper’s attention. “Oh, hello, Mingi.”

The man in question beamed at the younger boy. “Hi! I didn’t know you got a cat.”

Jongho looked at the cat, who was still pouting, before turning back to the wizard in front of him. “I didn’t.”

Mingi tilted his head in confusion.

“He’s a stray. He just visits sometimes.”

Jongho thought that’d clear the confusion, but it only raised more questions that Mingi was clearly unsure about asking.

“But that’s unimportant. What can I get for you?” Jongho decided to just get past the issue. 

“Ah!” Mingi perked up and listed out the ingredients he needed.

As Jongho set to work, gathering up the order, the cat had come down from his little temper tantrum and was now studying Mingi.

Mingi stared right back at the cat, and then his eyes squinted from behind his round glasses. 

At this gesture, the cat immediately stood up and got down from the counter. Mingi tried to get a better look as the animal wandered to the kitchen, but he had to let it go when a quaint paper bag was placed on the counter in front of him. 

He paid Jongho and left the shop with a smile. 

*

For nearly a week-and-a-half, the cat had come to see Jongho every few days. Jongho had gotten into the habit of leaving out a dish of water on the counter for the cat every night. The times that the cat came were fairly random as well, ranging from midday to late at night.

The most outlandish time, however, was early in the morning. 

Jongho had woken up to soft meowing and the feeling of the cat nuzzling its head against his cheek. 

His eyes fluttered open, and the cat released another meow in triumph. 

Jongho wasn’t the least bit upset, if anything he was confused. Still, his hand came gently to the animal’s head. 

“Okay, but just for a little. Then I'm going back to sleep.” Jongho indulged in smoothing the cat’s soft obsidian fur for about five minutes before rolling over onto his stomach with a yawn.

“Feel free to stay,” He muttered as he slipped into unconsciousness. The cat did just that, and curled up to Jongho’s side.

In the morning, the cat was gone. Jongho wasn’t too worried about it, and as his gut had told him, the cat was back the day after at right about lunch time.

*

“It’d be so incredibly awkward if you had an owner and you decided you liked me more than them.” Jongho mentioned one day, while the cat was eating a little dish Jongho had whipped up. 

The cat remained silent, which meant Jongho was wrong, or Jongho was right and the cat felt no remorse for it. Either way, Jongho chuckled to himself.

He let a hand softly glide down the cat’s back, admiring the creature’s dark coat.

His thoughts left his lips.

“You know, you’d look awfully good in red. Maybe a ribbon.”

This prompted the animal to look up at the boy. 

“Or not,” Jongho countered, wondering if the idea of a ribbon was too close to a collar; too close to ownership.

The cat stared for a few moments longer, then went back to eating.

Regardless of the cat’s opinion, Jongho firmly believed that a splash of satiny red would look dashing against onyx fur. 

*

The cat had visited in the night a few times more, and had followed Jongho to bed. Every morning, the boy would wake up to see the cat was gone, and that was fine with him.

What was concerning him more was his recent dreams that were incredibly vivid, and consisted of him laying in bed with the arms of a mysterious man around him. The dream would only last a few seconds before Jongho woke up, but the memory would remain painfully potent even after waking.

This was how he’d wake up every day. Wonder about the dream, then realize the cat was gone.

It stung a little bit.

Jongho was fairly lonely. The dreams only made him feel moreso. His mysterious dream-companion made him feel much more alone when he was awake. It made him realize how much he was aching for someone to be around.

That’s where the cat came to the rescue. Even though the animal was just that, an animal, Jongho found a little inkling of friendship in him. 

*

“You’re a very good helper,” Jongho complimented the cat, who had done nothing more but weave between the jars that the boy was sorting beneath the counter. 

As much as Jongho appreciated the company, he really could’ve used a second pair of hands when it came to these things. “If only my dream cuddle-buddy was here as well,” he laughed to himself.

This raised curiosity in the cat, who poked his head out from between the jars and looked with big eyes at Jongho. The boy chuckled softly and pet the cat’s head before picking up a jar of monk’s hood. “Don’t worry about it.”

The cat meowed, and went back to carefully weaving in between the containers. 

Finally, the cat decided to get out of Jongho’s way and take his usual place atop the countertop’s surface. In doing so, however, the feline accidentally knocked over a jar of lavender when he leapt up and bumped right into it.

The glass shattered against the floor right next to Jongho, and the boy jumped away from the little explosion. He bumped into the tall shelf beside him, and before he could register what was happening, the shelf began to topple over him.

A gasp got caught in his throat. He could see himself, buried under the heavy shelf and head bleeding from the chamomile jars that would surely fall on him. And there, under the shelf, with no one else in the house to call to, save for the cat that wouldn’t be able to help, he would bleed out and die.

But the jars never fell.

The shelf never hit him. 

Because in front of him stood a man with his arms stretched out, past Jongho’s head. Jongho turned around, to see the shelf held up by an invisible force. The jars that were so very close to crashing on top of the shop-keeper were suspended in midair.

Magic. 

Jongho turned back around to the man, who looked fairly panicked as he stared up at the shelf above Jongho. He was a wizard. 

Where had he come from? Did he walk in right when the cat knocked over the jar, and leap into action at the sight of peril?

He was very handsome. Black hair, a chiseled face, and eyes that took a very feline shape. His gaze that was panicked and directed at the shelf, was now peering at Jongho, whose face was only a foot away from his own. 

Jongho thought the wizard’s eyes looked strikingly familiar. Like he’d seen them once in a dream. His entire face was familiar, now that Jongho thought about it.

“Who-?”

“I can explain,” the man blurted. “Just let me clean this up first.”

With a flick of his wrists, and an upturn of his palms, the shelf, and the items it held, were all lifted back into their places. Jongho turned to watch in awe. Magic.

Then he remembered the cat, and his brows furrowed. He flew past the handsome wizard, looking around the counter, then trudging into the kitchen when there was no sign of the cat in the front room. 

The wizard followed, clearly unsure of what to say. 

“It’s weird of him to run away like that.” Jongho recalled similar incidents in which the cat had simply been startled by loud noises, but never had he retreated from Jongho’s home. Then again, the shelf had never fallen down before, so maybe it wasn’t too strange.

The wizard huffed in offense. “I’d never-” He began with such intent, before cutting himself off. 

Jongho raised his eyebrows and turned to the wizard that stood white as a sheet in his kitchen. 

“You’d never what?”

The wizard gulped. 

“I-I’d never run away, Jongho.”

Jongho froze. He was quite alarmed that the stranger knew his name. And he spoke as if he was familiar with Jongho.

“You-... hold on.” The boy held his palm out, while the other came against his forehead. 

About a billion thoughts ran through his head at once. The questions piled higher and higher, and he so earnestly wanted to know what was happening.

“The cat…” he couldn’t decide how he wanted to continue. Luckily, he didn’t need to.

“Is me.” The wizard confirmed. “My name is San.”

Jongho remained rigid, and his eyes squinted as the pieces were coming together very slowly. ‘The cat is you,’ he mouthed. San fidgeted while Jongho’s poor brain was disgustingly constipated with all of the information he was trying to process. 

“You’re the cat,” the boy stated, almost like he was asking for a second confirmation.

San hesitated, nervous about Jongho’s unpredictable reaction that seemed to be happening excruciatingly slowly. “Yes.”

Jongho went back to thinking.

The silence was eating San alive.

“You’ve eaten cat food.”

A second of more silence passed, as San was expecting Jongho to lash out, break down, or interrogate him. He was not prepared for talk about cat food. 

Then, San laughed, utterly amused by the fact that this was the first and most pressing thing on Jongho’s mind. His eyes hid behind his lids in an eye smile, and deep dimples pressed into his cheeks.

Jongho was suddenly fighting a light blush that tempted to settle on his cheeks. Maybe he was embarrassed by his choice of question. Or maybe he found San stunning, and only noticed when the man smiled.

San’s hand landed on his own chest to calm his heart that was erratic with stress before Jongho’s comment. “You made it out of herbs and human food, which is essentially just human food,” He argued with a smile. 

Jongho pouted his lips in thought. San caught it, and pressed his own lips into a thin line as he tried to hide how cute he thought Jongho was. 

“Why do you bother coming?”

San knit his brow, so Jongho asked again.

“You’re a wizard, and you probably have important things you need to do… why do you spend time here?”

San widened his eyes, then looked at the ground, shy embarrassment blooming pink on his cheeks. “I come to see you. Keep you company…”

Jongho felt warm inside to hear that, but he also wondered ‘why’. San looked up, then averted his gaze again to the table beside him. 

“You told me you were lonely…”

“I… I did,” Jongho spoke softly. 

“And then I started to enjoy your company… So I made time in my schedule to come spend time with you whenever I could and for as long as I could.”

San didn’t want Jongho to feel like he was just visiting to do a good deed. He really did like to see Jongho.

“But you were right, I have things I need to do… that’s why I couldn’t be there all the time.”

Jongho nodded.

That made sense why San was irregular in his visits. Also that was why San was always gone whenever Jongho woke up; he had business to attend to as a human.

Then a thought came to Jongho. “You have slept in my bed, San.” He didn’t say it in a very reprimanding way. It was almost like he was making a joke, except it was a very real event that had happened. 

San covered his face with his hands. “I know, I’m sorry!”

Jongho nearly laughed. “I was the one that invited you to stay that time you came in at the a** crack of dawn, don’t apologize. Also… why were you even here that early?”

“Ah, uhm,” San couldn’t catch a break with the embarrassing confessions. “I was leaving for an overnight trip later that morning, and wouldn’t be able to see you for a few days, so…” his voice died out. 

That was a sweeter explanation than expected, and Jongho felt fuzzy inside again. He figured that after the first time, it was easier for San to follow him to bed and curl up to his back like he always did. 

Come to think of it, that was around the time Jongho started having the dreams of being held by a warm stranger.

A few things clicked in the shop-keeper’s head.

“Did-... did you ever turn back into a human while in bed with me?”

Oh that came out sounding very strange, and it definitely left both boys very red.

San swallowed the flush, and nodded. “If I fall into too deep a sleep, I tend to shift back…”

Hesitantly, Jongho pressed further. It was difficult to get the words out of his mouth. “Did you also happen to spoon me when that happened?”

Uncomfortable is a word not strong enough to describe the San’s internal and external conditions. 

Then he snapped into hysterics.

“I-I-I’m really clingy, espec- especially when I’m asleep and can’t- can’t stop myself! I’m so sorry, it- it only happened once, I promise!” His hands covered his eyes as he wished for nothing more than to dissolve into the floor.

Jongho was shocked by the reaction.

San turned his back to jongho, and began to retreat toward the front room. “I-I’m sorry. I’ll just- I’ll just go-“

“No!” Jongho called out a little louder than he intended to, accidentally frightening San enough to make him jump. The wizard didn’t move, and Jongho stared at the man’s back as if his gaze alone could anchor him in his place.

“Please don’t go. I didn’t mean to make you nervous.”

Jongho panicked, hating the thought of losing his companion that had alleviated the pain in his heart for the past month. And for such a minuscule reason as well. He then lowered his voice and fiddled with the hem of his shirt.

“I’ve been having dreams about you.”

San hadn’t ever heard Jongho speak that way before. It sounded so very timid, more so than was within Jongho’s usual behavior.

The content of his plea hit him second. He turned back around to face the boy who looked even smaller than he sounded. He almost couldn’t comprehend what the shopkeeper had said.

“The human you,” Jongho clarified. “That’s why I asked. I dream of someone holding me from behind and I think… I think it’s you…”

The wizard’s breath caught in his throat. 

Truth be told, San had actually developed a little crush on Jongho in the time he’d spent with the boy. What started out as simple curiosity ended up in falling flat on his face for the reserved shopkeeper. Of course, San couldn’t expect Jongho to fall in love with a cat, so he intended to tell the boy somehow of his real identity. But watching the shelf nearly crush Jongho that day, he just had to act, and all of his plans for breaking the news to Jongho in a smarter way went straight out the window. 

Now, he was hearing that he was in Jongho’s dreams. Not only that, but he was holding Jongho. The boy dreamt of him, San, _human San_ , holding him.

Jongho’s shaky voice coaxed San out of his thoughts.

“I don’t know what to make of it just yet… but I do know that I don’t want you to leave.” He sighed and pleaded with a grimace of despair. “Dear lord, please don’t leave.”

San was not about to flee like he wanted to thirty seconds ago, but his frozen state must have not been very telling of this fact.

Jongho squeaked out his next words with evident panic. “I don’t care if you’re a human or a cat, or a bear, or whatever. I just can’t bear to be alone again.”

San’s heart broke.

Breaking free of his frozen trance, he walked up to the boy and gently held his twiddling fingers. “I won’t leave. I’ll stay.”

Jongho didn’t look up from where his hands were cradled in San’s. 

“Do you swear it?” Jongho’s voice could only manifest in a whisper. He sounded like he was about to cry.

San’s suspicions were confirmed when he felt a warm tear splash lightly onto his thumb. 

The wizard pondered Jongho’s question. It seemed he was asking something much bigger than what existed within the constraints of just that night.

He was asking something much more serious, even if unintentional. San was aware of this, and thought of an answer in relation to this larger question. 

“If that is what you wish.”

The boy nodded, and San gave his answer easily.

“Then I swear it. I won’t leave you alone.”

San watched Jongho’s posture relax, but the tears were still in production. 

They stood in the delicate quiet for a moment.

“Sorry I’m crying,” Jongho sniffed and tried to laugh to lighten the mood. It just made San’s heart clench sadly. “I didn’t realize how big this feeling was until I said it out loud.”

“Don’t be sorry,” San ached to add a ‘love’ to the end of it, but he was not about to push something he wasn’t certain was wanted. 

“Can… can I hug you?” He inquired so very softly.

Jongho pulled in his bottom lip, before a little ‘please’ left him, accompanied with a nod.

San’s arms scooped Jongho into his hold without a second thought. One hand wrapped around the boy’s back and pulled him close, and the other carefully led the boy’s head to rest in the crook of his neck. Jongho was a little taller than San, but he shrunk so much into the older’s embrace that it didn’t matter all that much. 

Jongho let himself be held, and was especially appreciative of the slender fingers that combed through his hair. He thought he would cry more, but in the company of such comforting warmth, the tears had subsided.

It wasn’t like him to be so fragile, but to be fair, he had just unboxed a pretty big struggle quite spontaneously.

He was left only with his thoughts, and the feeling of San’s vaguely familiar hold.

“I should probably finish sorting,” he sighed.

He didn’t see the way San scrunched his nose. “I just saved you from almost certain death (you’re welcome, by the way), and you want to sort your spices?”

Jongho lifted his head from San’s shoulder. “Well…”

“Absolutely not, you’re going to bed this instant.” San shook his head, and then pulled the younger boy along by his (very beefy) bicep. 

Once in Jongho’s room, San instructed him to change into night clothing. While Jongho was doing so, the wizard left to give him privacy, and ensured that he'd only be a minute. The boy sat on his bed when fully dressed and waited patiently.

When San returned, there was a glass of water in his hand that he insisted Jongho should drink, since “You should always drink water after you cry.”

Jongho couldn’t believe that this attentive and thoughtful San was the cat that usually just watched contentedly as the boy struggled throughout the days. He finished the glass of water and placed it on his end table. 

“You’re kind of an *ss,” the shopkeeper said, startling San with his words. 

The wizard gaped. “That’s unfair, I saved your life today!” 

Jongho shrugged. “You’re the one who knocked the lavender over.”

“It was an accident!” San whined, making Jongho laugh. 

“I forgive you.”

Then there was silence as they stared at each other.

For unknown reasons, a blush crawled across the skin of San’s cheeks.

“You should sleep, Jongho.”

“Okay,” he replied, tentatively.

San thought it’d be easier to leave after saying that. It wasn’t.

“Lay down. Get under your covers.”

Jongho, although a bit confused, obeyed the gentle coercion. He then caught on to San’s intent, and a swell of sadness spilled into his chest. 

His voice was small again. “Are you gonna leave…?”

Gazing at the forlorn look in Jongho’s eyes crushed San’s resolve into dust that blew away in the wind. 

“Do you _want_ to leave?” 

San couldn’t stand the distress in Jongho’s voice. 

“No.”

He sat on the bed, next to the boy, and stared into those gentle brown eyes that held so much sadness.

“I swore to you I wouldn’t leave you to be lonely. I don’t just throw around promises, especially ones like that.” His hand took to Jongho’s soft hair again. 

It made sense to Jongho now. The connection between the cat and San.

San’s eyes glistened with an intelligence deeper than Jongho could fathom. It was the same intelligence that shone brightly through the eyes of the black cat. Although he periodically acted like a child, San had the intellect of someone much older than himself.

Jongho recognized this intellect in San when he was a cat, and knowing how fast the man was able to shift into human form and stop so many items from falling all at once, his skills lived up to the look in his eyes. 

Jongho couldn’t possibly admire anyone more than he admired San. 

“Stay with me,” the boy whispered.

San’s hand caressed gently to Jongho’s cheek from where it was carding through his locks. A sweet smile lit up his face. “I just said I would, Love.”

It slipped out on accident, and he bit his tongue. The shine in the younger’s doe eyes was all too captivating, and he forgot himself. He retracted his hand from Jongho’s cheek by just a few inches.

But when the pet name rolled off San’s tongue, those doe eyes simply glistened. Something San hadn’t seen before in his time spent with the shopkeeper. 

He had half a mind to kiss Jongho right then and there, if not for his strong self restraint. 

The younger slowly grabbed the wrist of the hand that had retreated, and pulled it back down to his face.

His lips grazed the back of San’s fingers as he whispered another request. 

“Lay with me?”

The innocent glaze in Jongho’s eyes nearly gave San a heart attack. Instead, he smiled and nodded. He marched toward the lantern and blew out the light before shuffling back to the bed.

The boy rolled over onto his stomach and made room for the older, who beamed as he burrowed under the covers. His dimples made Jongho’s stomach flip every time they jumped out. 

When he finally laid his head down on the pillow, San peered back at Jongho, who couldn’t keep his eyes off of the older, even in the darkness of his room. 

Jongho’s brow furrowed ever so slightly.

He picked his head up off his pillow, paused for a moment, then propped himself up on his elbows. 

He wordlessly gazed down at San, who seemed to be a mix of confused and curious.

Then, San smiled softly up at Jongho, and brushed the younger’s hair from his eyes just for it to fall back down. The backs of his fingers came against Jongho’s soft cheek.

The boy lowered himself until his nose touched San’s. He could hear the older’s breath hitch.

“Please kiss me,” San pouted. He was on his way to say ‘if you don’t I might cry’, but he wasn’t even given the opportunity to get the ‘if’ out of his mouth.

Jongho had connected his lips to San’s. 

And San felt like he was floating.

No spell could ever compare.

It was sweet, and gentle. 

But painfully fleeting.

Jongho returned to lay his head on his pillow all too soon.

San jutted his lower lip out in a pout, and Jongho chuckled with a gummy smile that smacked the pout right off the other’s face.

Suddenly, San, the intelligent and well renowned wizard, felt inexplicably shy. 

“Turn around, please.”

Jongho giggled at San’s obvious shyness as he did as he was asked just to entertain him for a moment.

When he felt arms encircle him from behind, his heart sped up significantly.

“Feel familiar?”

“Are you teasing yourself for me?” Jongho couldn’t keep in his laugh. 

San made a choked squeaking noise and hid his face in Jongho’s back, eliciting a louder laugh from the younger. 

“Go to sleep,” the wizard had whined. 

It took a good ten minutes to come down from the banter, but Jongho and San both were asleep pretty quickly.

And Jongho was more than delighted to wake up to San still in his bed in the morning.


	2. Moving In

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> San moves into the shop.
> 
> The first of many little drabbles for these two cuties 😌

“Are you sure?” Jongho clasped his hands behind his back as San brought in the last box of his belongings.

“Absolutely. It’s a little too late to back out now anyway,” The wizard shrugged as he looked about the room, which was now lined with boxes, stored in which were all of his possessions that he’d brought from his previous home.

That made Jongho’s pensive face crumble.

San glanced at the boy beside him. Taking one look at the gloom that shadowed Jongho’s expression made the man jump. He stepped in front of Jongho, and gently cupped the boy’s cheeks in his warm palms.

“I was only joking, Lovey.” San admitted sheepishly, while his thumbs stroked Jongho’s warming cheeks. “I stand by my decision. I want to be here with you.”

Jongho pouted, a little sparkle twinkling in his round eyes. “Really?”

San planted a sweet little kiss on Jongho’s puckered, pouty lips, and beamed up at him. “Of course!”

Jongho pressed his lips into a thin line as he felt warmth creep onto his cheeks. San’s hands hid his blush, but they could feel the warm flushing of it.

San, being oh-so-whipped, felt his heart squeeze at the sight of his Jongho being so blushy. 

Suddenly, San was engulfed in Jongho’s muscular arms and held close to the younger’s chest. The boy buried his face in the crook of San’s neck in an attempt to hide how shy he was feeling. 

Choi San melted, in every sense of the word. His own face exploded with a rosey pink, and he was momentarily stunned. 

Then his arms moved to reciprocate. One wrapped around the younger’s waist, while the other snuck up around Jongho’s shoulders, fingers tangling themselves in the hair at the nape of Jongho’s neck.

San breathed in deep. His senses were warmly greeted by the scent of spices and herbs that filled the entire house. He’d come to recognize it as the scent of home by accident, really. Walking in to such an aroma calmed his nerves time after time of visiting.

Jongho’s scent was San’s favorite, though. The shopkeeper always seemed to have the smell of sandalwood with a hint of clove hanging on his skin. 

San left a ghost of a kiss against the side of Jongho’s neck, unable to get rid of the smile on his face. 

Jongho let out a shy whine, trying to hide even further into San.

The wizard giggled lowly and closed his eyes as he held his cherished shopkeeper.

Unpacking his things could wait. San was doing something far more important.


	3. Little Mix Up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Our sweet Jongho proves to have at least one more brain cell than dear Sannie.

San sighed for what seemed like the twentieth time within the last hour. Jongho heard it from the kitchen, and wandered into the front room, curious as to what could be bothering his lover so much.

“Is something the matter?” He leaned against the kitchen door frame and stared at San’s back.

San buried his face in his hands, then dragged his palms down his cheeks in frustration. “I don’t know why this elixir isn’t doing what I want it to do.”

Jongho picked himself up off the door frame and stood right by San where he sat perched upon a stool behind the counter. “Oh? What’s it for?”

He observed the little pot filled with a substance that turned out to be a bit too green for San’s liking.

“Cleansing. I followed my usual recipe, but for some reason it’s just not turning out right.”

Jongho pressed a hand to San’s back as he leaned forward to view the recipe listed out on a little scratch piece of paper. San’s handwriting was so pretty, Jongho nearly forgot what he was doing.

The shopkeeper then double checked the ingredients laid out on the counter. One particular jar of unlabeled contents caught his eye, among the assortment. He picked up the jar and examined the herb inside through squinted eyes.

San watched the boy’s scrunched face light up with realization. “Oh! You added bay leaves instead of sage.”

The wizard widened his eyes, brows knitting at the diagnosis. “What? How did you know?”

“I mean look at it. They look similar but not completely the same.” It seemed so easy for Jongho to say as he shrugged, and closed the little container.

The shopkeeper traveled to the shelf against the wall and placed the bay leaves in their designated spot. A shelf up, he reached up to the sage as he muttered about labeling the jars before they created bigger problems.

San just watched, star struck. Jongho only noticed the expression when he’d set the jar of sage in front of the wizard and looked at him with a little smile.

The smile was quickly exchanged for a frown. “What?”

San blinked a few times, trying to gather words. “I’m? _Wow _I’m in love with you and your talented brain. you’re so smart,” The man scoffed in disbelief of his own affections for the younger.__

__Jongho snorted, ignoring his own little blush of embarrassment. “No I'm not, I just know plants. You’re the smart one, Sannie. Although, maybe I’m not so sure after that little mixup.”_ _

__San laughed brightly at the teasing, and pulled Jongho into his lap to smother him in a hug. The younger rested his chin on San’s shoulder, and hugged his hands to his chest as he felt arms wind around his back._ _

__The wizard sighed happily, the warm feeling of belonging filling up his entire being._ _

__“What would I do without you?”_ _

__“Make an anxiety elixir instead of a cleansing one.”_ _


	4. Caught in the Act

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He had a feeling the cat was familiar.

San and Jongho were busying themselves with each other at the front desk once they realized business would be particularly slow that day. Well, really it was San’s doing.

Jongho was simply sitting on his stool, reading a new book from San’s library, when a sleek black cat hopped up onto the counter. 

Jongho sighed, fit a bookmark into the pages, and closed the book. “Yes?” He asked San, pushing the book to the side.

The cat sat right in front of Jongho, and stared silently. 

The shopkeeper cocked an eyebrow, but obliged in scratching San behind his ear anyway. 

San then shifted back into human form. Intentionally.

He now sat on the counter, legs dangling off the edge on either side of Jongho. “Hi,” he grinned.

“That was very slick and yet also horribly ungraceful.” Jongho couldn’t hold in his giggle.

San’s smile grew, and he lowered his head to kiss Jongho on top of his hair. “What about... undeniably sweet?”

“Hmm,” Jongho mused, folding his arms on San’s lap. “No, I don’t think so.”

The smile on San’s face dropped into a pout, which made Jongho chuckle again. He briefly pressed his lips up against the wizard’s to kiss that pretty pout away.

He pulled away for a moment and muttered against San’s lips with a smile. “You’re more inexplicably sweet, Sannie.” 

Before San could complain any more, Jongho was kissing him again, and he suddenly didn’t care if he was undeniably or inexplicably anything; except completely and wholly Jongho’s. 

The sound of the bell came out of nowhere, and both boys jumped out of their skin.

San turned around and Jongho swayed to the side to see past his dear wizard. Part of him believed he should have been embarrassed. The rest of him didn’t care.

There in the middle of the entrance stood a frozen Song Mingi, with an indiscernible expression on his face.

“Choi San?” The tall wizard asked, looking from San to Jongho and back again.

It was uncomfortably silent.

Until it wasn’t.

“Holy sh*t I knew it.”


	5. Magic Wench

“So this is where you’ve run off to?” Mingi scrutinized. “Claiming the best herb dealer in town as your own?”

That statement made Jongho flush. There was no way he was the best herbs dealer in town. He didn’t get many new customers, it was more like he had a few loyal customers. Song Mingi was one of them.

San shamelessly grinned. “Exactly. No, you may not have him.” 

Not that Mingi wanted him anyway. The tall wizard was already a little occupied. 

“Well can I at least get some of his chamomile?” 

Jongho jumped up with a nod, and hurried to his big shelf. 

San frowned at the departure of his sweet shopkeeper, and sent a little glare Mingi’s way.

“You apologize to Woo yet?”

San scrunched his nose and sneered, “You confessed to Yeosang yet?” 

Mingi sputtered, immediately on the defensive. “I-I’m letting him understand his feelings at his own pace!”

“You just like it when he clings to you—“ 

“Do you want your chamomile crushed or whole?” Jongho smartly butt in. He didn’t know who Woo or Yesoang were, he just wanted the bickering to end.

Mingi cleared his throat and nodded. “Whole, please.”

Jongho swiftly poured out some dried chamomile flowers and packaged them in a brown paper bag. San watched the shopkeeper with adoration, and Mingi watched San with curious skepticism.

“Will that be all?” Jongho asked.

Mingi nodded.

Jongho smiled and rolled up the top of the paper bag. “Alright, that’s about six dollars.”

The lanky man exchanged the bag for a ten dollar bill on the counter and retreated before Jongho could give him change. “Thanks!” He smiled a sweet gummy smile, and disappeared behind the door.

Jongho sighed with a little smile of contentment and twisted the lid back onto the chamomile jar.

“Only six?”

“Huh?” He turned to the man sitting on the counter.

“Only six dollars?” San’s brows furrowed.

Confused, Jongho could find no words, and simply stared.

“You should charge more, Jongho.” San hopped off the counter and flicked his hand. Magic pulled at the jar in Jongho’s hand and lifted it from his grasp. It floated gently to its rightful place on the shelf while San stepped forward.

“Oh…” he understood San’s plight, but now he bit down on his words. His hands boyishly shoved themselves into his pockets, eyes flicking to San’s collar, rather than his eyes. 

San tilted his head, with a smile and perplexed chuckle. “What’s wrong?” His arms wrapped around the younger’s waist, head tilted up to look at him.

Jongho kept his hands in his pockets. “I’ve thought about it before... but I- I already get so little business, and- and...”

“Are you afraid of losing customers, Love?” 

Jongho chewed his lip and nodded. San got the nail right on the head.

The wizard hummed, pressing a kiss to Jongho’s cheek and perching his head on the taller’s shoulder. “It’s your shop, and you know how to run it best. If you think upping prices will hurt business, then don’t listen to me, because I’m not the least bit credible in running businesses and wouldn’t know.”

“But your opinion still matters.” Jongho mumbled, resting his cheek against San’s hair.

“That’s sweet, just make sure not to take my opinion as advice, alright?”

The shopkeeper chuckled. “Why not?”

“You overestimate me. I am but a lowly magic wench,” San lamented with a dramatic sigh.

That made Jongho laugh brightly. He knew it was a lie. San was smarter than he’d ever let on. 

Instead of responding, he took his hands from out of his pockets to hug his silly wizard.


	6. Chives

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A little insight to San’s friend circle

“By the way—“ Jongho started as he sprinkled a bit of chive into the pot cooking on the stove. San, who had his nose stuck in a book about hexes, popped his head up when he heard his shopkeeper’s soft, squeaky voice. “How do you know Mingi?”

San smirked and obnoxiously propped his elbow on the kitchen table to rest his cheek on his knuckles. “The question is, how do _you_ know Mingi? “

“He’s— he’s my customer?” A laugh skipped out of Jongho’s chest. 

“Hm. Interesting.” San dropped his little act and sat back in his chair on his next inhale. “Well, we’re actually good friends. I met him and Yeosang through Wooyoung.”

Jongho made a face. He did not know either of those names. “Who are Yeosang and Wooyoung?”

“Well, Yeosang is Mingi’s almost-boyfriend.” 

Both of them snorted. 

“And Wooyoung?” Jongho really hoped he wasn’t pushing it, but he couldn’t help the curiosity that nipped at him. San hadn’t ever talked about his friends. Why? Jongho didn’t know, but now that he was hearing about them, he couldn’t stop his mind from wondering.

“Wooyoung… is Yeosang’s childhood friend, and,” San paused, and a glimmer of the smallest regret flashed across his eyes. “… my best friend.”

Worry tugged at Jongho’s brow when he looked over his shoulder at San, whose gaze was unfocused and far away. “You look upset,” he commented.

“I haven’t really talked to him all that much lately.” San shrugged with a tone that was terribly honest and sad.

Worry was mixed with an inkling of guilt that weighed on Jongho’s heart. He didn’t like to see his San don such a sad face. 

A question of “why not?” hung on his tongue, but he hesitated to let it slip past his lips. Ultimately, he decided against it. 

San would talk about it when he was ready to. 

“I’m sorry Sannie,” he settled for sympathy, coming up behind the wizard’s chair and slipping his arms around his neck.

San’s hand came up to cup the side of Jongho’s face as he released a sigh.

There they stayed, until they heard the pot on the stove reach a rolling boil.

“Dinner’s almost ready. Care to be my taste tester?” Jongho inquired with a smile.

Dimples dipped deep into San’s cheeks. “Always.”


	7. Chrysanthemum

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just as Jongho predicted; San looks good in red.

*

San quite enjoyed looking at the sky. The wispy brushstrokes of the cirrus clouds that crawled across their blue canvas were nearly hypnotizing. If San ever wanted to sit in his own thoughts, the sky was always an incredible choice. 

“Sannie.”

The wizard’s train of thought halted at the sound of his lover’s voice.

Now, had it been anyone else, San might have been annoyed by the interruption. However, Jongho asking for his attention could hardly be called an interruption. In fact, San’s zone-out time was interrupting his time with Jongho.

The shopkeeper could probably sneeze, and San would willingly lay down all current tasks to give him tissues and say “God bless you.”

Giving his attention was the easiest thing he could possibly do, and he was always eager to be giving it to Jongho.

So when, on that late-summer day, Jongho called out to San, he was elated to let go of his prior trivial thoughts in favor of filling his mind with thoughts made of and for only Jongho.

The wizard propped himself up on his elbows from where he was previously relaxing on the picnic blanket they’d set under a tree growing out of the gentle slope of a grassy hill.

Over the past few weeks, the two had been spending more time outside to soak up the last stretch of summer before the chill of fall set in. (Hence the reason for their little picnic.) 

“Yes?” He looked over attentively at Jongho with bright eyes and a subconscious smile.

The shopkeeper said something, but San was too busy being supremely distracted by the boy himself to register his words.

San was always one to pick up a tan quite easily, but after these past weeks, he realized he couldn’t hold a candle to the beauty of Jongho’s melanin.

The boy already had natural color, even when cooped up inside, so San shouldn’t have been surprised by the way his complexion darkened so much and so easily. 

Still, San found himself rendered awestruck by the way the sunlight that filtered through the tree’s leaves glazed glittering golds on the skin of Jongho’s face and arms. 

It was when Jongho snorted a chuckle that San snapped out of his distracted trance. The wizard looked at what was in the boy’s hands, and tilted his head. “What’s that?”

Before addressing San’s curiosity, Jongho placed the wreath of red flowers atop the wizard’s black hair.

“A crown of chrysanthemums.” 

San reached a hand up to gently touch the flowers that had been so carefully woven. “Where’d you get chrysanthemums from?” He didn’t see any sort of similar flower nearby, so there was no way he could’ve picked them. 

Jongho could tell what he was thinking based on the way he was looking around. “They’re from the new shipment. I wanted to do it while they’re still fresh.”

San sat up fully and faced the younger with a squint. “I assume I don’t need to lecture you on using merchandise for personal use, but this is awfully suspicious of you, Choi Jongho.”

“I ordered extra. I know how to run a business, Choi San.” Jongho snapped back without any real bite. 

“Woah, easy there,” San held up his hands in defeat, and an endeared smile accompanied his chuckle. 

Jongho giggled, shoulders shrugging in that oh-so-adorable way that made San melt every time. 

The two sat there for a moment, grinning at each other like fools, until Jongho spoke up.

“I told you you’d look fantastic in red.” His expression was purely triumphant.

“Huh?” San dropped his smile. “Oh—!” he reached up to the wreath of red in his hair. “You think so?”

“Mmm,” Jongho hummed, “Yeah. You should wear it more often.”

A memory flicked across San’s eyes, and he nearly started laughing just by the thought of it. 

“Ah, I remember now. You mentioned a red ribbon, didn’t you?”

The shopkeeper looked away, slightly embarrassed. “I did.”

San laughed his high pitched bird-like laugh and surged forward, tackling Jongho to the ground in a hug. 

Jongho yelped in surprise, but he wasn’t hurt. He was much more physically durable than San was, and the grass under the blanket was an extra cushion anyway. After his back hit the soft ground, he laughed.

San placed a quick, sweet kiss on Jongho’s cheek and chirped, “I’ll have to think about it.”

*


	8. Fragile

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> JUST A LITTLE BIT OF ANGST SORRY ITS ONLY THIS CHAPTER (also sorry it’s so long lol 💀)

“Hello!” Jongho greeted the new customer rather cheerfully. It wasn’t every day that he got new customers. Usually it was the same familiar faces.

The first thing that struck Jongho about this new face in particular was how handsome he was. Jongho was never that eloquent, so the best word he could come up with was handsome. That’s what he was. 

Then Jongho noticed he looked a little… off put. Maybe even nervous.

“Hello,” the man began. “You’re Choi Jongho, yes?”

The shopkeeper blinked. “Yes.”

The man smiled, but there was still a thick coating of uncertainty. “It’s nice to meet you. I’m Park Seonghwa. Is Choi San here, by any chance? I was told I could find him here.”

Seonghwa wasted no time in getting to the point, and Jongho had yet to fully catch up.

“Uh… y-yeah. Yes, he is. I can grab him for you?” Jongho offered.

“That’d be great,” Seonghwa smiled again. “Thank you.”

With a simple nod, Jongho turned on his heel and walked into the back part of the house.

Knowing exactly where he’s left his wizard, Jongho strolled past the kitchen, straight to the bedroom.

He opened the door after knocking twice, and popped his head in. San was sitting at the desk, hunched over research papers and notes about new spells he’d been investigating. 

“San?” Jongho called.

San’s face flicked up to look at the younger with wide eyes as he put his pen down. “Yes, Love?”

Jongho ignored the way his heart flipped at the pet name, since it happened every time. “Someone’s here for you.”

“Oh?” The wizard sat up straight, then stood up from the desk.

“He says his name is Park Seonghwa.” Jongho mentioned while San crossed to the door.

That made San’s brow furrow. 

Jongho stepped aside to let the older walk through the doorway. He followed San back into the front room, Where Seonghwa was still standing in anticipation.

When Seonghwa saw San, all of his nervousness left his body. “San, oh my gosh,” he exhaled.

“What’s the matter, Seonghwa?” San asked as he stood in front of the counter.

Jongho wasn’t one to smother San in the way San smothered him, but the way he reacted to hearing Park Seonghwa’s name made Jongho stay in close proximity to the wizard. 

Seonghwa bit his lip at the question. “Well first off, it’s good to see you.”

San pursed his lips.

“And I miss you,” Seonghwa added. “We all do.”

Jongho found himself going rigid at those words. Who was this man? Who was he to San?

San must have sensed some kind of disturbance in Jongho’s vibes, because his hand was reaching behind him to grab the shopkeeper’s in an instant.

Jongho was temporarily pacified by the connection. He had no answers yet, but he did know one thing; San was his. And he was San’s. No matter who this Seonghwa is or was.

“I miss you guys too.” San said quietly, but it was heard clearly.

Seonghwa hesitated before blurting, “Please make up with Wooyoung.”

San said nothing, and shot a side glance to Jongho. This was a lot that he was about to learn about San’s friends.

“He’s miserable, San.”

The wizard scoffed and looked back at Seonghwa. “Miserable? I can’t even remember why we fought in the first place, it was so insignificant. How could he possibly be miserable?”

Seonghwa’s brow knit in utter disbelief. “He’s upset _because_ you two fought, and he hasn’t seen or heard from you in months. Of course he’s going to be miserable. And I don’t know exactly how it’s been going on your end since you straight up disappeared after the fact, but you can’t stand there and tell me you’re not upset too.”

San bit his tongue in frustration, then took a breath to reset himself. With his head hung low, he sighed. “I _am_ upset.”

“Then please, San. Apologize and make it better.”

“Why are you telling _me_ to apologize? It’s just as much his fault as it is mine.”

"Don’t you think I have? And even when he wanted to, how could he have done so? When we had no idea where you were? Mingi just happened to bring it up last week that he'd seen you here, thank goodness. So yes, I am telling you to apologize, because I’ve already told Wooyoung.”

Seonghwa cooled down from his rant, and sighed.

“Here’s what’s going to happen. You're going to come to the fall festival, you're going to make up with Wooyoung, and then the..." he trailed off, looking at Jongho for a moment before picking back up.

“The eight of us — not negotiable,” he gestured to Jongho, “— will spend the rest of the day together, and we will be joyful and make merriment.” Seonghwa noted definitively. “Now I’m going to go home to Wooyoung and tell him exactly what I’ve just told you so you two can fix this.”

Moments of silence passed. San was taking a moment to swallow it all.

Seonghwa sighed, and his expression softened. “I’m glad you’re okay.”

San nodded. “Yeah.”

More silence plagued the air between the three of them, so Jongho gave San’s hand a light squeeze. 

“Tell Woo I’m okay.” San requested.

Seonghwa gave a nod. “I will.” He briefly turned his attention to Jongho to say “It was nice to meet you.”

After a polite response, Jongho watched Seonghwa bid them goodbye and exit the shop.

They were only alone for about five seconds before San turned and curled himself into Jongho as far as he could go. His hands held the front of the shopkeeper’s shirt in tight fists, and he buried his face into the taller boy’s neck.

Jongho didn’t need to be told, he already was wrapping his arms around the smaller. And he gently rocked back and forth with his San cradled close.

He could feel San trying to regulate his breathing. The warm dampness he felt on his collar alerted him of the tears. 

The wizard usually wasn’t this fragile, but maybe he just didn’t show this side to Jongho. Or maybe this Wooyoung situation affected him a lot more than normal.

Regardless of the origin, San was in need of comfort, and Jongho was immediate to respond. He kissed the crown of San’s head and rubbed circles into his back while they swayed.

He didn’t know exactly what San was feeling, so he had no idea what to say to him. He wasn’t going to ask San, either. He decided on switching words with more kisses. 

“I’m sorry,” San mumbled out sometime later. 

“Why sorry?” Jongho couldn’t think of a single thing that San should’ve been apologizing for

“I’m so emotional.”

That didn’t sound right. 

“San,” Jongho pulled away just enough to look into his lover’s face. “You know you’re allowed to feel feelings, right?”

The older boy’s face was pulled into a frown, and his feline eyes were red from silent tears. He didn’t answer the question.

Jongho’s warm palm met San’s cheek, thumb brushing at an escaped tear. 

“Please let yourself feel and be affected by things. It makes you human.”

San hummed, eyes fixed on Jongho’s chest.

“Besides, it’s no fun being in love with a statue.”

The wizard let out the smallest laugh, and lightly bat at Jongho’s chest. 

Jongho chuckled at the reaction he got. 

He spent a few seconds just looking at San’s teary face, silently decided that he was the most beautiful thing on the planet, and pressed his lips to San’s pout.

“We’ll figure this out, okay?” Jongho smiled down at the other. “It’ll all be alright.”

San huffed to get the crying to go away, and he nodded. 

Jongho pulled San back in and hugged him so sweetly that the wizard almost burst into tears again, for different reasons.


End file.
